Is it a symbol for a Union that was employed by Sony/CBS? Much like the Capitol pressings that had the "IAM" triangle?
Not really. It's on a per-disc basis. Or WAS, until the cassette tapes. Per-medium, if you wish. I think it was only nostalgia that led it to be put it on ANY CDs in the first place. I also think it is a stylized stylus, by the way, besides signifying which side to play first.
Here is another twist: I have the MALFUNKSHUN "Return To Olympus" CD from 1995, label is Loosegroove a sub. of Sony Music. Manufactured by 550 Music/Epic. Has "the symbol" on the disc. Disc matrix: 3A BK66657 04
That would make it a corporate logo of sorts. There is never any copyright/trademark marks or notations associated with it. It never appears on the packaging, just the label. Would an entertainment company have a special insignia for their family of products, that you had to purchase and unwrap the package to even see? Sounds unlikely.
I find it interesting that with all the music industry people on this site no one has given a definitive answer yet. I am assuming of course that this symbol is not just arbitrarily chosen and printed on the products. There has to be an answer
This is so true. I would have thought that within a couple of posts, the definitive answer would have been given.
It HAS been given, people just don't want to accept it. Much like the "(supposed) end of Rhino records" thread.
Yes, please. And it better not have anything to do with some silly theory about digital files because we have found too many examples of Columbia CDs that were manufactured between 1985 and 1995 that do not have that symbol, and I believe that all CDs are derived from a digital file.
Update...I heard back from my Carrollton friend yesterday. He worked for CBS/Sony for about 23 years, including tenures at the Milford, CT R&D facility; the Pitman, NJ plant; and the Terre Haute plant before moving to Carrollton GA to set up the new CBS plant which opened in January 1981, with the first product shipping a few months later. Over the years he held numerous supervisory positions at that facility. In 1995 when they began to make CDs, he became Supervisor of CD Manufacturing, and remained at that position until the plant closed its manufacturing operations in 2001. Yesterday he got in touch with several other former CBS employees to see what they remembered. There seems to be some uncertainty about the details among them as well, but it's a royalty issue. Artists' contracts usually provide different royalty rates for recordings released through alternate forms of distribution. Some of these include rentals, direct merchandising, record clubs, military-only, ect. The symbol was only used on standard retail copies. There was no clear consensus about the exact dates, or whether only certain plants used the symbol. There may be some additional information on the way. I'll be sure to post any updates.
I will try to do so, but why if we already have the answer. A scan of several dozen of my CDs will not have any effect on the answer that was just given regarding the royalties issue.
Well, well well. Very interesting! Something interesting that I did not mention in my earlier post: I did NOT see this symbol on any of the promotional CDs from Columbia that I have from this period. I only have three or four of these CDs. They are "singles" from Bruce Cockburn and Kate Bush which were issued as promotional singles only; they were not issued as mass market singles. I got them at a used LP/CD store which often had promotional cast-offs. The CDs I looked at did not have the symbol on them. I didn't think anything of it since there were so few of them and I figured that all bets were off on labelling of promotional items. Edit: Come to think of it.... I think I remember a 12" single from The Stranglers which is marked "PROMOTIONAL NOT FOR SALE" that does have the symbol.... I'll double check later..... Note: most "record club" CDs and LPs would probably be excluded from royalty as well, so CRC record club issues theoretically may not display the symbol either.
Makes sense with the new royalty theory. Of course this might not be defenitive or conclusive, but at least we have another theory that competes with the theories regarding the different pressing plants and locations. The only theory that was a non-starter had to do with the media that bears that symbol being sourced from a digital file of some kind.
I have some promos with the symbol, and some without it. The symbol would have no significance on promos because they are non-returnable items, and don't accrue royalty payments for the artists anyway. It's during the returns process that items with and without the symbol become a factor for the accounting department. They know how many items were manufactured and shipped for standard retail issue, and how many were manufactured and shipped for alternative distribution. But the returns also have to be processed into individual credit/debit accounts to keep the payments straight. The symbol is only one factor among several to help identify an item's history.
Area 51. Where's my tinfoil hat that I will wear when listening to any Columbia release. Every Columbia release played backward sounds like Andy Williams.
LOL...no we will get into that when we start trying to discover why they chose that particular symbol instead of something else.
